Birmingham-7
Fingers crossed it is sorted.
Birmingham to Stansted is not that far if your Birmingham flight is cancelled
Join Date: Aug 2011
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It does seem that BHX doesn't market the ease of getting to the airport. In the centre of England and M6, M5, M40, M42 and close to M1 motorways. West coast mainline station, with Virgin lounge, bar and café shop ATM's etc. a terminal like warm environment and far superior connections than any other UK airport station. I've been to some of them and most are in no way remotely comparable to Birmingham International. However it does seem to me, from personal observation only, that the rail feed to the airport is growing. They should push this more especially as young people today seem to be snubbing car ownership.
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Join Date: Aug 2016
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1. There is a train every hour, but the first one doesn't reach Stansted until 08.39 which may be too late - I haven't checked Primera's proposed TA schedule.
2. I couldn't agree more that BHX doesn't make nearly enough of it rail access. On another thread people are arguing whether travellers from the SW could be persuaded to use CWL. Surely getting on a train to Birmingham international is much easier.
2. I couldn't agree more that BHX doesn't make nearly enough of it rail access. On another thread people are arguing whether travellers from the SW could be persuaded to use CWL. Surely getting on a train to Birmingham international is much easier.
Join Date: Jan 2013
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I think the issue with rail travel is the hassle and price of it.
Firstly, the luggage space, especially on virgin trains and in the case of the North, TP Express , is abysmal. There have been a few times I’ve traveled on Virgin with a large-ish case, and often there has been a struggle storing the bag unless you are one of the first on the train.
Then there is the price. When train tickets are often higher priced than the flight the person has just taken, no wonder it puts people off. I couldn’t count The amount of times I look at twitter and see people posting ‘my flight from Berlin was £20 but my train home was £45’. Price wise, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the Heathrow Express is one of most expensive cost per mile rail journeys in the U.K. on a standard fare? Says it all.
With issues like that, if you are 2 or more people, no wonder people choose cars and taxis over rail travel. I certainly wouldn’t even contemplate rail travel for my family holiday, not a chance I’m lugging 3-4 cases, 2 hand luggage, 2 small children and possibly a pushchair on a train to get to an airport, with a change en-route too for me, I literally couldn’t think of anything worse.
Then long haul pax, do you really want to be waiting for trains etc when your shattered from a flight with again, likely large cases for such a trip?
Obviously rail is fine if you are travelling hand luggage only on a short break, but outside that, I really do struggle to see the appeal.
Firstly, the luggage space, especially on virgin trains and in the case of the North, TP Express , is abysmal. There have been a few times I’ve traveled on Virgin with a large-ish case, and often there has been a struggle storing the bag unless you are one of the first on the train.
Then there is the price. When train tickets are often higher priced than the flight the person has just taken, no wonder it puts people off. I couldn’t count The amount of times I look at twitter and see people posting ‘my flight from Berlin was £20 but my train home was £45’. Price wise, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the Heathrow Express is one of most expensive cost per mile rail journeys in the U.K. on a standard fare? Says it all.
With issues like that, if you are 2 or more people, no wonder people choose cars and taxis over rail travel. I certainly wouldn’t even contemplate rail travel for my family holiday, not a chance I’m lugging 3-4 cases, 2 hand luggage, 2 small children and possibly a pushchair on a train to get to an airport, with a change en-route too for me, I literally couldn’t think of anything worse.
Then long haul pax, do you really want to be waiting for trains etc when your shattered from a flight with again, likely large cases for such a trip?
Obviously rail is fine if you are travelling hand luggage only on a short break, but outside that, I really do struggle to see the appeal.
Join Date: Aug 2016
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People are always comparing pre-booked plane tickets with last-minute rail tickets, when there are also pre-booked rail tickets, often a quite short notice.
And somehow lugging all this luggage, children etc from some remote car park seems not to be a hassle....
And if you're using your car on some holiday Saturday you have to allow hours to spare in case of holdups.
And somehow lugging all this luggage, children etc from some remote car park seems not to be a hassle....
And if you're using your car on some holiday Saturday you have to allow hours to spare in case of holdups.
And somehow lugging all this luggage, children etc from some remote car park seems not to be a hassle....
And if you're using your car on some holiday Saturday you have to allow hours to spare in case of holdups
)
Join Date: Jan 2013
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Oban.
One of my last trips to London of 2017. Pre booked rail tickets 3 weeks out and it still came to £122 return. Bargain! Same booking period, could have gone to Dublin for 31.99, or Alicante for £80. Need I say more?
The trains near me are hourly to Manchester and Chester, so it also means I have to work to the rail schedule rather than my own. What about early flights? No option at all really. First train gets me to Manchester City and not even the airport for 9am, great for a 0630 flight.....
Also parking wise, ever heard of meet and great? Try it, you’ll love it!
No argument will convince me the train is a better option than a car for a family holiday.
One of my last trips to London of 2017. Pre booked rail tickets 3 weeks out and it still came to £122 return. Bargain! Same booking period, could have gone to Dublin for 31.99, or Alicante for £80. Need I say more?
The trains near me are hourly to Manchester and Chester, so it also means I have to work to the rail schedule rather than my own. What about early flights? No option at all really. First train gets me to Manchester City and not even the airport for 9am, great for a 0630 flight.....
Also parking wise, ever heard of meet and great? Try it, you’ll love it!
No argument will convince me the train is a better option than a car for a family holiday.
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Oban, having recently looked into advance rail bookings which I might need after arriving at a UK airport, I noticed that the cheap fares are not only non-refundable but for specific trains (same as airlines with specific flights). Consequently that is not an option because of possible delays to the arrival of my flight, or I have to allow X number transfer hours most likely resulting in having to hang around. If I compare UK unrestricted rail travel costs with the country I live in, UK prices are extortionate.
UK prices are extortionate.
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Leeds, UK & Cork, Ireland
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I know this is the BHX thread.
Useful info - cos if they tell you before you book, they keep it well hidden! Also, doesn't work the other way - if your flight is early, you can't get change to an earlier train.
Join Date: Oct 2005
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It's not something thats all that well publicised, I agree. Also limited to 3 hours after your supposed arrival. I suppose after that EU-261 should kick-in.
https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-...hester-airport
I suppose its unlikely that your flight would be so early as to make getting an earlier train of much use, other than transatlantic flights in the winter, when tailwinds can be strong?
https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/special-...hester-airport
I suppose its unlikely that your flight would be so early as to make getting an earlier train of much use, other than transatlantic flights in the winter, when tailwinds can be strong?
Join Date: Aug 2016
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The fact that the number of PAX using Manchester airport and Birmingham international stations is growing more quickly than the number of PAX using the airports suggests that more and more people take a different view.
The problem with these sterile arguments about car vs. rail is they hardly ever compare apples with apples.
When people talk about how much it costs them to go by car, they simply calculate the distance, work out how many miles they do per litre (or for some curious reason in UK, a gallon!), then multiply the litres by the cost per litre and - hey presto, that's the cost. Conveniently forgetting depreciation, wear and tear, servicing, insurance etc .etc.
HM Government agrees the cost of operating a car is 45p per mile. Try calculating car vs rail and availing yourself of the best advance fare offers and the gap narrows, and set against the hassles of the UK road network, I'd say it's at best 50 / 50 as to which is the best option travelling to airports like BHX, MAN and LGW - probably, in reality 60 / 40 in favour of rail.
When people talk about how much it costs them to go by car, they simply calculate the distance, work out how many miles they do per litre (or for some curious reason in UK, a gallon!), then multiply the litres by the cost per litre and - hey presto, that's the cost. Conveniently forgetting depreciation, wear and tear, servicing, insurance etc .etc.
HM Government agrees the cost of operating a car is 45p per mile. Try calculating car vs rail and availing yourself of the best advance fare offers and the gap narrows, and set against the hassles of the UK road network, I'd say it's at best 50 / 50 as to which is the best option travelling to airports like BHX, MAN and LGW - probably, in reality 60 / 40 in favour of rail.
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But, the thing with adding things like wear and tear/insurance etc into the mix with a car, is that you already own the car, so, insurance etc is not factored in as it’s something you would be paying regardless of your trip to the airport.
In fact, one could say that it makes the rail option more expensive, as you are still paying for the dormant parts of the car like insurance, tax etc, but are now using rail so the tax etc isn’t being put to use.
Then there is ‘multiple occupancy’, so to speak. That means a car journey is going to cost broadly the same whether one person, or 4/5 travel in that same car. The same cannot be said for a train whereby every person has to pay the same amount.
Your 60/40 split in favour of the train also includes, as you say, availing yourself to the BEST advance offers, it’s not always that easy to grab these bargain basement fares. I used to commute between Manchester and London by rail quite a lot. I wasn’t a novice, I knew when broadly the best times to book were, but even then, the fats were not always that cheap.
Swings and roundabouts really, and like I say, I’m also taking ease into the equation, which for me, no matter which way you try and swing it, a train from me to the airport is far from easy. In fact, to get to my closest rail station, I have to take........a car! Defeats the point then really, doesn’t it! (And I know just me singularly is very anectodal evidence, but there will be thousands like me in the same situation that don’t have access to a high frequency rail station, nor one without a taxi/car journey to the station to begin with).
In fact, one could say that it makes the rail option more expensive, as you are still paying for the dormant parts of the car like insurance, tax etc, but are now using rail so the tax etc isn’t being put to use.
Then there is ‘multiple occupancy’, so to speak. That means a car journey is going to cost broadly the same whether one person, or 4/5 travel in that same car. The same cannot be said for a train whereby every person has to pay the same amount.
Your 60/40 split in favour of the train also includes, as you say, availing yourself to the BEST advance offers, it’s not always that easy to grab these bargain basement fares. I used to commute between Manchester and London by rail quite a lot. I wasn’t a novice, I knew when broadly the best times to book were, but even then, the fats were not always that cheap.
Swings and roundabouts really, and like I say, I’m also taking ease into the equation, which for me, no matter which way you try and swing it, a train from me to the airport is far from easy. In fact, to get to my closest rail station, I have to take........a car! Defeats the point then really, doesn’t it! (And I know just me singularly is very anectodal evidence, but there will be thousands like me in the same situation that don’t have access to a high frequency rail station, nor one without a taxi/car journey to the station to begin with).
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My general rule of thumb is that with one, the car is roughly on-par with the train, once parking has been taken into account. But once two or more are travelling the car becomes more attractive. If flights are between 0500 and 0900 though, it can be hard to get to the airport in sufficient time, if travelling with checked in baggage.
I don't think Train Vs Car is a set decision for all journeys. If there are 4/5 of us travelling and I can get a multi-story car park for a good price, then the car is a no-brainer. If its just me, travelling with only hand luggage, coming off a night shift the train is likely to be a more attractive option.
I don't think Train Vs Car is a set decision for all journeys. If there are 4/5 of us travelling and I can get a multi-story car park for a good price, then the car is a no-brainer. If its just me, travelling with only hand luggage, coming off a night shift the train is likely to be a more attractive option.